Was Colorado shooter a highly intelligent student?

While reading the CNN coverage of this mornings unfortunate incident in Aurora, CO., something struck me as odd. Well, actually there were a number
of things about this that didn't pass the "smell test", but one thing in particular caught my attention.

James Holmes is a 24 year old Ph D. candidate in a somewhat esoteric area of biochemistry.

A college syllabus that lists Holmes as a student shows that he may have taken a class in which he studied topics as diverse as substance
abuse, schizophrenia, depression and other disorders.

According to the document, he was supposed to have made a presentation in May about microRNA biomarkers.

From the same article:

Holmes had enrolled at the university in June 2011.

and:

He was a doctoral student in the neuroscience program.

and finally:

The Poway Unified School District in San Diego confirmed that James Holmes graduated from Westview High School in 2006.

Huh?!

OK. He graduated from HS when he was 18. Add 4 years for his undergraduate work plus 2 years for his Masters' degree. That brings us up to June,
2012 and 24 years of age.

But it seems that he had already completed 1 years of study towards his Doctorate by June, 2012 so he had to have completed one of his degrees one
year early for the timeline to work.

Consider how many students go straight from HS to a Doctoral program without a break, much less gain a scholastic year somewhere along the way? Not
to mention the cost of that level of education - rich parents maybe?

So he was at the very least of above average intelligence and probably a "genius" by Mensa standards.

It would seem that it involves the identification of RNA level genetic codes that serve as "markers" for various diseases and conditions. Within this
article, which seems to have been written for the "layman", there are darker clues.

The announced presentations on the subject were presented as part of the 42nd European Human Genetics Conference (ESHG) held June 12-15, 2010, in
Goteborg, Sweden by a group of distinguished German scientists.

Also mentioned is something called the Biomarker Discovery Center located in Heidelberg, Germany which:

provides research institutions with the opportunity to identify candidates for novel genome and transcriptome biomarkers using dedicated
biochips and next-generation sequencing.

Huh? BIOCHIPS??!!

OK...this is getting too wierd.

Genius kid working on this Ph D. in a brand new branch of genetics (eugenics?) pioneered by a bunch of German scientists suddenly withdraws from the
program in June (from the original CNN article), and a few weeks later goes tactical on a crowded theater during the midnight premier of a Batman
movie??? And then waits calmly by this vehicle for the cops to arrest him.

Take your pick of conspiracies on this one folks. Mind control of one sort or another? Government black ops program to influence the Small Arms
Treaty vote in the Senate? Did he discover something about the procedure or those in control of it that drove him mad or made him the target of one
or both of the above?

The only thing that is certain is that there is a LOT more to this than meets the eye (or the MSM cameras...).

Mod Edit - replaced "Genius" in the title as the staff believe that the thread may be misinterpreted - contact Neformore for information

Some say that there is a fine line between genius and madness, I tend to agree.
Its a sad thing that happened at this theater but whats even more sad is the way that this
incident will be exploited for political gain.

Genius kid working on this Ph D. in a brand new branch of genetics (eugenics?) pioneered by a bunch of German scientists suddenly withdraws from the
program in June (from the original CNN article), and a few weeks later goes tactical on a crowded theater during the midnight premier of a Batman
movie??? And then waits calmly by this vehicle for the cops to arrest him.

Take your pick of conspiracies on this one folks. Mind control of one sort or another? Government black ops program to influence the Small Arms Treaty
vote in the Senate? Did he discover something about the procedure or those in control of it that drove him mad or made him the target of one or both
of the above?

The only thing that is certain is that there is a LOT more to this than meets the eye (or the MSM cameras...).

Wow, talk about a plot thickener. Sometimes I hate to assign conspiracy theory to such tragic events, but this story and the movie itself reek of
weirdness, imo.
Nice investigative work Tholidor, let's see what else we can dig up.

Whoa!!
You may have just stumbled upon something very, very important. You may have a point with the whole biochip/mind control idea as crazy as it sounds.
Obviously it just speculation but very intriguing nonetheless.

Geniuses often turn crazy or were crazy to start off with.

Maybe he discovered the 'Psychopath gene' in his genome and decided to put his money where his DNA genetics claimed to be.

The mind control idea is very interesting indeed...

I shall be keeping a very close eye on this issue and when I have some time I shall do some digging.

I'm just spitballing here but it almost sounds as if he discovered/learned something that he just couldn't cope with in his studies. The whole
waiting calmly by his car to be arrested part is what is keeping me puzzled more than anything else. This guy was prepared for war... you would think
that he would keep on killing until he himself was killed.

Since he identifies himself with the Joker, I think this quote is appropriate, from "The Killing Joke"

I've demonstrated there's no difference between me and everyone else! All it takes is one bad day to reduce the sanest man alive to lunacy. That's
how far the world is from where I am. Just one bad day. You had a bad day once, am I right? I know I am. I can tell. You had a bad day and everything
changed.

Who knows what caused this behavior.... I'm really interested in where this is going to go. A few things just don't add up at all.

..... Or he could have just hit the PHD program level of student debt, lost his school program for whatever reason and snapped like a twig.
Oh..perhaps the recent changes to the aid program that cuts on performance.

No excuses here. No way. However, I don't necessarily see any conspiracy either. I can see a path where he may ave gone postal and why by what we
know. Now, I wait for a lot more to get context of what actually happened.

The little cretin is alive...so lets learn from it. I suppose... Of course, if the wrong cell doors opened at the wrong moments..oh nvm. I'm suppose
to think better things, right?

I understand and appreciate your stance TA, but when stuff like this happens, it is so bizarre that many minds actively seek reasons 'why' it
happened. What could drive someone to do this? And of course this is ATS, home of mega-inquisitiveness, coupled with conspiracy theories, so yea it
seems natural to dig into this. You make a good point about the families and their morning, but we are not bad people for seeking answers, especially
in today's crazy as climate of events. I do not think asking questions is disrespectful to the family, and I do not think the OP was trying to
glorify this dude by highlighting Holmes' intelligence, but rather found it and James' past interesting and potentially relevant.

Originally posted by TrueAmerican
Yeah, right. I am sure if you were a victim family member, you'd be calling the guy who just shot your wife dead a genius.

Uh huh.

Would you people at least mind giving victim family members the chance to mourn their dead? My GOD!

:shk:

Give it a rest, no one here is hindering family members mourning.
The guy WAS a PhD student, so yes he most likely was very intelligent and he was a student in a very controversial program, so it seems.
The OP offers legitimate arguments and if youre not interested in participating, then go create a thread of your own for "mourning"

He's gotten too delusional to think he is the actual joker. Maybe movies nowadays had gotten to a point where people are actually enticed to try the
real thing. It worries me of what this next generation will do .

Calling somebody a "genius" does not automatically mean that they are not mentally ill, it simply means that they have a certain level of
intelligence. I don't think the OP was insinuating he was a "genius" for what he did. Many mass killers have an above average intelligence, that is
what makes them so dangerous.

He had no prior police records, common criminals usually have below average intelligence.

Some programs have a combined Masters/PhD track so you can be working on them simultaneously (ie: you do not have to graduate with a Masters degree
and apply to the PhD program, you are accepted to the track at the outset) ...

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